Power-lift gang-plow.



R. c'. CAUGH'EY. POWER LIFT GANG PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, I914.

Patented Mar. 4,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET RQ c. CAUGHEY.

POWER LIFT GANG PLOW.

APPLICATION FILED MAY. 22. 19 I4.

Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 R. C. CAUGHEY.

POWER LIFT GANG PLOW.

APPLICATION HLED MAY 22. 1914.

PZLtGIltGd M31. 4, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET a 30 positively driven driving mechanism; to proa 'rnnSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERTO. CAUGHEY, 0F DIXON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GRAND DETOUR PLOWCOMPANY, OF DIXON, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS POWER-LIFTGANG-PLOW.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

Application filed May 22, 1914. Serial No. 840,208.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT C. CAUGHEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dixon, in the county of Lee and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Power-Lift Gang-Flows,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in power-lift gang plows and refersmore particularly to the mechanism employed for elevating the ploWs fromthe ground when it is desired to render them inoperative, and for againlowering them into the ground when it is desired to resume plowing.

The clutch mechanism, which forms a part of the apparatus, is describedand claimed in a divisional application Serial No. 878,044, filed by meDecember 19, 1914, said application having resulted in the issuance 0 U.S. Patent No. 1,146,135, dated July 13, 1915.

Among the salient objects of the invention are, to provide an improvedmechanism for lifting the plows out of the ground or dropping them intothe ground when de-' sired; to provide an improved mechanism forpositively driving the plow-lifting devices from one of the wheels ofthe plow; to provide an improved clutch mechanism for effectingoperative engagement between the plow-lifting and dropping devices andthe vide improved means for clutching and unclutching the power-liftingdevices from the driving mechanism with a minimum of effort andmanipulation or attention on thepart of the operator, and in which thesame manual movement is employed whether for elevating or dropping theplows; to provide an improved arrangement and construction of thepower-lifting devices whereby the plows are elevated from the groundsuccessively in their proper order and at the right point in theirtravel to leave the ends of the furrows of equal length; to provide anim proved construction in the lifting mechanism whereby the plows arepositively retained in elevated position without the possibility ofbecoming accidentally dropped,.due to vibration or sudden movements ofthe gang plow; to provide an improved construction of latching mechanismfor posi tively retaining the plows in elevated position and whereby theplows may be still further elevated manually and, positively retained insaid manually elevated position; to provide a construction having acomparatively small number of parts, and those of simple and rugged formand material; to provide a power-lift mechanism which shall be simpleand economical in construction, and, in general, to provide an improvedconstruction of the character referred to.

-My invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and moreparticularly pointed out in connection with the accompanying drawings,inwhich+ Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved gang plow, certain partsbeing broken away to clarify the drawing; c

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1 in which one of the plows isillustrated in both dropped and elevated positions;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view'showing the clutch mechanism and theplow-lifting devices;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view showing a side elevation of theclutch mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the clutch mechanism; and

Fig. 6 is aperspective view of the clutch 1 pawl.

' Referring to the'drawings, the approved form of gang p-low which Ihave illustrated in Fig. 1 is furnished with three plows 1,2 and 3, eachof them being mounted upon a longitudinal frame 4 horizontally pivotedto the oblique fixed main frame'z"). Each of the plow units is raised orlowered by means of suitable link and lever mechanism designated as awhole 6 which may be of anysuitable type, and is operated by thelongitudinal link-rod '7 which extends from the link mechanism 6 to thefront of the plow, where the latching mechanism designated as a whole 8is located. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 show one of the plow units inelevated position and the full lines show the same unit in depressed orplowing position.

The lift mechanism is driven initially from one of the main wheels 9 ofthe gang plow by a chain 10 which connects the large sprocket wheel 11of the lifting mechanism with the small sprocket wheel 12 the latterrevolve freely upon the jack shaft 16 which is journaled .in suitablebearings 17 and 18 fastened to the gang plow frame. Interposed betweenthe hub 14 and thebracket 17 and securely pinned or keyed to the jack-shaft16 -isasector-shaped arm 19 provided with a suitable hub 20, andin a suitable position between the bearings 17 and 18 there is also;keyed to the jack shaft 16 a small sprocket pinion 21 which drives thesprocket wheelg22- by a chain 23. The sprockets 21 and 22 have a 1 to 2gear ratio for a purpose which will'hereinafter appear.

The sector-arm 19 ordinarily occupies the position shown in the drawingsand at its upper corner carries a pivoted pawl member 24 the upper endof which isforked to embrace said sector-arm. The lower end of the pawlmember is urged toward the ratchet hub 14 by virtue of a coil tensionspring 25 one end of which is secured to the sector-arm at 26 and theother end to a bolt 27 which passes through the pawl member 24 and issecured by a nut 28. The pawl member 24 consists of the pawl proper 29and the cam 30 which are connected by an oblique foursided web 31. Thepawl 29 is adapted to engage the ratchet-teeth 15 when permitted to doso, but normally the pawl member 24 is lifted to bring the pawl 29 outof contact with the ratchet-teeth 15 by virtue of the pin 32 whichengages the cam surface 33 on the underside of the cam 30 and thus liftsthe point of the pawl out of the range of the ratchet-teeth. The pin 32is constructed to slidein. a pair of bracket arms 34 and 35 projectingjfrom the top of the bearing 17, and the inner'end of the pinis reducedin cross-section to form a stem 36 around which is wound a coilcompression spring-37 which is interposed between the arm' 35 and theshoulder on the pin andthus normally forces the latter longitudinallyoutward into the rangeof the cam 30. Secured to a partof the fixed frameof the gang plow is a small angular bracket 38'at the end ofwhich is avertical pivot39 upon which is mounted a bell-crank lever 40."One end ofthe bellcrank lever 40 is forked and engages a groovein the. projectingend of the stem' 36,

and the other end of the bell-crank is adapted to be engaged by thelever 41 which at its lower end is pivoted upon a pin 42 projectinghorizontally from a fixed portion of the frame of the machine. The upperend of the lever 41 projects upward a considerable distance and isfurnished with a cord 43 leading to the operator in the tractor used forpulling the gang plow.

Describing the operation of the clutch mechanism, it will be seen thatwith the parts inposition shown, when the cord 43 is pulled the end ofthe lever 41 will move forward, the bell-crank lever 40 will rotate uponits pivot, the'forked end of the bellcrank lever will thus pull the pin32 longitudinally in its bearings, and, the end of the pin having beenwithdrawn from engagement with the cam 33, the pawl member 24 will bereleased and the pawl 29 will engage the ratchet-teeth 15 in the hub ofthe sprocket wheel. The. ratchet-teeth in the hub are so formed as toengage the pawl 29 when the sprocket wheel 11 rotates in the directionof clutched to the sector-arm 19 which commences to rotate, and with itthe'shaft "16 and sprocket-pinion'21. As soon as 'the'pawl member 24 hasdropped into engagement with the ratchet-teeth on the hub and commencesto rotate the shaft 16 the operator releases his pull on thejcord andthe pin'32 is thus urged back into its horizontalj position by thespring 37 and just before} the sector-arm 19 has completed a wholerevolution the cam surface 33 strikes the end .of the pin 32 and liftsthe part 24 intoits original position with the pawl 29 out of range ofthe ratchet-teeth 15. The rotary move 'ment of the shaft 16, after itssingle re'volution, is thus arrested. 1

Describing the actual mechanism used for lifting the plows out of theground, by'referring to 3 it will be seen that the sprocket wheel 22 iskeyed to a square shaft 44 which projects horizontally ac'ross'the gangplow and through three pairs of vertical brackets 45, 46 and '47.Securely keyed to the shaft 42 and adapted to rotate between each pairof'bra'ck'ets is a cam member48,

and directly in frontfof the brackets 45, 46

and 47 are three levers 49. Th'ese levers are pivoted beneath the.vertical brackets 45, 46 and 47 and are formed fronipa'irs of strapmetal sides 50 between which are journaled cam rollers 51, the latterbeing positioned in the levers 49 at a suitable height to be engaged bythe cam members 48 in their rotation aroundth e shaft44. The upperendsof the saidtbrackets 45, 46 and 47. The rear ends of the latch-bars53 are formed with a pair of notches 56 which are adapted to engage the,spacingpins 55 and prevent rear:

wardmovement of the latch-bars, thus maintainingthe plows in elevatedposition.

For releasing and dropping" the plows I employ a set of three releasedogs 57 whibh are securelykeyed to the'square" shaft 44 at one side ofthe brackets 45, 46 and 47 and are adapted in their rotation to engagethe lower ends of the depending angular bellcrank levers 58 which arepivoted at their upper ends to the upper ends of the brackets 45, 46 and47. The bell-crank levers 58 comprise integral castings formed withlower depending arms adapted to be engaged by the release cams and shortangular arms at the ends of which are circular horizontally extendingbosses 59 which extend below the latch-bars 53.

For the purpose of lifting the plows from the ground manually when thegang plow is stationary, I have provided a set of hand levers 60 whichare pivoted at their lower ends to the tops of the brackets 45, 46 and47 and are pivotally connected at points substantially in the middle oftheir length to the meeting connections of the links 52 and 7. It isobvious that the plows may be elevated from the ground by pullingforward upon the ends of the lovers 60. In some cases when it is desiredto haul the gang plow over rough country for a considerable distancewithout doing any actual plowing, the plows may be still furtherelevated from the ground by pulling forward the hand levers 60 until thepins 55 are engaged by a second set of notches 61 at the extreme end ofthe latch-bars 53, the release cams then .being inefiective ifaccidentally operated, since the bosses 59 enter the notches 56.

The mechanical construction and operation is apparent from the abovedescription. Whenever the cord 43 is pulled, the shaft 16 makes onerevolution and one only, and this results in a corresponding halfrevolution of the square shaft 44. If the plows happen to be in theground, the cams 48 are in their upper position and as the shaft 44makes its half revolution in the direction of the arrow, the cams strikethe rollers 51 and force back the levers 4%, thus raising the plowswhich are retained" in elevated position by the latch-bars 53 engagingthe spacing pins 55. lVhen it is desired again to drop the plows intothe ground and commence plowing, the cord 43 is again pulled,

the shaft 16 makes another single revolution and the square shaft 44makes a corresponding half revolution. During this half revolution ofthe shaft 44 the release cams 57 strike the lower ends of the bell-cranklevers 58 and the bosses 59 on the short angular arms of the bell-cranklevers strike the under side of the latch-bars 53 and raise them asufiicient distance to disengage the notches 56 from the spacing pins55. The plows are thus released from their elevated position and droppedinto the ground.

It will be noticed fromaclose inspection of Figs. 2 and 3 that therelease cams 57, although identical in form, are angularly displacedslightly with reference to each other around the shaft 44, and the cams48 are similarly displaced with reference to each other. The purpose ofthis .is to raise or release the plows in succession as the shaft 44rotates so that all of the plows will be raised from or dropped into theground at the same point in the length of the furrow so as to preventleaving a furrow having an oblique finishing end, which wouldbe the caseif all of the plows were released and dropped. simultaneously on accountof the oblique arrangement of the plows. It will also be evident thatthe only manipulation required of the operator of the lift mechanismconsists of a moderate pull upon the cord 43 to release the pin 32, therest of the operation being automatic.

My invention is not limited to the details of construction shown anddescribed except as specified in the appended claims.

I claim- 1. In a plow, power-lift mechanism comprising a continuouslyrotating member positively driven from one of the wheels of the plow, anormally idle rotary member normally disconnected from said rotatingmember, clutchmechanism carried by said normally idle member foroperatively engaging the same with the rotating member, manuallyoperated means for engaging said clutch, a cam shaft, gearing betweensaid cam shaft and said normally idle member adapted to drive the camshaft at onehalf the'speed of the normally idle member, liftingmechanism operated by said cam shaft and adapted to raise the plows fromthe ground during one-half of a revolution of said cam shaft, releasemechanism operated by said cam shaft during the other half of therevolution of said cam shaft fo permitting the descent of the plows bygravity into their operative positions, and autopredetermined amount ofrotary movement of said shaft. 7 V Y 3. In a power-lift engine gangplow, the combination of positive driving means, a normally stationarycam shaft, means carried by said shaft adapted to lift the plow unitsduring a predetermined rotarymovement of said camshaft, latchmechanismfor. maintaining the plow units in elevated position, means operated bya furthermovement of said cam shaft for unlatching the plow units'andclutch mechanism for connecting sai'dshaft with said driving means.

l. In a plow, the combination of a plow unit adapted to be raised anddropped 'out of or into operative position, power-operated means forelevating said plow into in operative position, means also operated bypower for lowering said plow into its operative position, and manuallyoperated means for further elevating said plow unit and beyond theinfluence of said power-operated lowering means.

5. In a power-liftplow, the combination of a main frame, an upwardly-extending lever pivoted in the bottom of said frame, a power-operatedshaft journaled in said frame above'said pivot, said lever and shaftbeing provided with means adapted-to effect pivotal movement of saidlever u'pon rotation of saidshaft, means for effecting definiterotarymovements of said shaft, a plow-, support pivoted to said frame, aconnection extending from the upper end of said lever to saidplow-supportand adapted to elevate the same upon pivotal movement ofsaid lever caused by the rotation of said shaft, a manually operablelever having one end pivoted at the upper part of said frame above saidshaft and having an intermediate point initslength operatively connectedto said connection, and latch mechanism for maintainingsaid-plow-support in elevated position.

6. Ina plow, the combination of arplow unit adapted to be raised andlowered out of or into operative position, automatic power-operatedmeans for causing the raising or lowering of said plowunit at will,latch mechanism adapted to maintain said plow in position upon beingelevated by said power-operated means, and manuallyoperated means foreffecting a further elevation of said plow unit beyond the influence ofsaidv power-operated lifting and lowering means. 4

7. In a'plow, the combination of a plow unit adapted to be raised andlowered out of or into operative-position, latch mechanism formaintaining said plow unit in two different elevated positions,power-operated lifting and lowering mechanism for lowering the plow unitor raising it into one of said elevated positions, and manually-operatedmeans for further elevating said plow unit into its second elevatedposition.

8. In a plow, the combination'of a plow unit adapted .to be raised andlowered out of or into operative position, power-driven elevatingmechanism for said plow unit, latch mechanism for maintaining said plowunit in elevated position and in locked position, and elevatingconnections between said plow unit andsaid' power-driven mechanismadapted to be operated by said power mechanism to latch said plow unitin elevated position and adapted to be manually-operated to extend saidelevating movement of said plow unit into locked position.

9. In a power-lift plow, the combination of a main frame, an upwardlyextending lever pivoted in the bottom of said frame, 7 a power-operatedshaft journaled' in said frame 'above said pivot and behind said lever,said lever and shaft being-provided with means adapted to efiect forwardpivotal movement of said leverupon rotation of said shaft, means foreffecting predetermined definite rotary movements of said shaft, aplow-support pivoted to the rear ofsaid frame, a connection extendingrearwardly from the upper end of said v said lever, said lever and shaftbeing provided with cooperating means adapted to effect a forwardpivotal movement of said lever upon rotation of said shaft, means foreffecting predetermined" definite rotary movements of said shaft, aplow-support pivoted to the rear of said frame, a link extendingrearwardly from the upper end of said lever, a connection pivoted to therear end of said link and extending rearwardly to said plow-support forelevating said plow-support upon the forward pivotal movement of saidlever, a manually operable lever having itslower end pivoted inthe upperpart of said frame above said shaft and having an intermediate point inits length pivotally connected to the rear end of said link, and latchmechanism for main-v I effect a forward pivotal movement of said leverupon rotation of said.shaft,,means for effecting predetermined definiterotary movements of said shaft, a plow-support pivoted to the rear ofsaid frame, a link extendingrearwardly from'the upper end of said lever,a

connection pivoted to the rear end of said link and extending rearwardlyto said plowsupport for elevating said plow-support upon the forwardpivotal movement of said lever, a manually operable lever having itslower end pivoted in the upper part of said frame above said shaft andhaving an in termediate point in its length pivotally con nected to therear end of said link, a latch member having its front end pivotally connected to said first lever and extending rearwardly over said shaft, andmeans carried by said frame for engaging said latch member to maintainsaid plow-support in elevated position.

12. In a power-lift plow, the combination of a main frame, an upwardlyextending lever pivoted in the lower part of said frame, apower-operated shaft journaled in said frame above said pivot and behindsaid lever, said lever and shaft being provided with cooperating meansadapted to effect a forward pivotal movement of said lever upon rotationof said shaft, means for effect ing predetermined definite rotarymovements of said shaft, a plow-support pivoted to the rear of saidframe, a link extending rearwardly from the upper end of said lever, aconnection pivoted to the rear end of said link and extending rearwardlyto' said plowsupport for elevating said plow-support upon the forwardpivotal movement of said lever, a manually operable lever having itslower end pivoted in the upper part of said frame above said shaftandhaving an intermediate point in its length pivotally connected to therear end of said link, a latch member having its front end pivotallyconnected to said first lever and extending rearwardly over said shaft,means carried by said frame for engaging said latch member to maintainsaid plow-support in elevated position, and means operated by said shaftfor disengaging said latch member.

13. In a power lift for plows, the combination with a plow, of apivotallymounted shifter arm connected to the plow, an operating shaft,an arm fixed on said shaft and adapted, during a portion of itsrevolution, to move said shifter arm and raise the plow, a dog forchecking the reverse movement of said shifter arm when said actuatingarm ceases to move the same, to thereby hold the low in raised position,and a part actuated by said shaft for releasing said dog.

14. In a power lift plow, the combination of a plow, a liftingconnection for said plow, a latch cooperating with said liftingconnection for maintaining the plow in raised position, a trip membermovably mounted with reference to said latch and adapted to move andrelease the latter to drop theplow, a normally stationary shaft, amember keyed to said shaft for directly engaging and actuating saidlifting connection upon a rotary movement of said shaft, and a memberdriven by said shaft for actuating said trip member upon a furtherrotary movement of said shaft.

15. In a power lift plow, the combination of a main frame, a plowmounted thereon and capable of vertical movement relative thereto, ashifter arm pivotally mounted on said frame and connected to the plow, anormally stationary cam shaft journaled in said frame, a member keyed tosaid shaftand adapted upon a rotary movement of said shaft to engage andmove said shifter arm to raise the plow, a latch for maintairn ing theplow in raised position, a pivoted trip member for moving said latch toreease the latter to drop the plow, means operable by a further rotarymovement of said shaft to actuate said trip member, continuous drivingmeans for rotating said shaft, and clutch mechanism for effectingmechanically predetermined successive rotary movements of said shaft.

16. In a power lift low, the combination of a main frame, a p ow movablymounted thereon, a lifting connection for said plow, a latch membermovably mounted with reference to said lifting connection and adapted tomaintain the plow in raised position, a trip member mounted to moveindependently of and engage said latch for releasing the latter to dropthe plow, a normally stationary shaft, continuous driving means, clutchmechanism for effecting mechanically predetermined successive rotarymovements of said shaft, and means operable by successive rotarymovements of said shaft for alternately lifting the plow and actuatingsaid trip member.

17 In a power lift plow, the combination of a main frame, a plow movablymounted thereon, a lifting connection for said plow, a latch membermovably mounted with reference to said lifting connection and adapted toengage the same to maintain the plow in raised position, a trip membermounted to move independently of and engage said latch for releasing thelatter to drop the plow, a normally stationary shaft, continuous drivingmeans, clutch mechanism for efiecting mechanically predeterminedsuccessive limited rotary movements of said shaft, a member keyed tosaid shaft for directly engaging and actuating said lifting connection,and a second member keyed to said shaft for engaging and actuating saidtrip member.

ROBERT C. CAUGI-IEY.

Witnesses GERTRUDE OASTLES, A. W. LELAND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of l'atents, Washington, D. 0.

